Malting apparatus.



No. 836,925. PATENTED NOV. 27, 1906.

J. W. FREE. MALTING APPARATUS.

'APPLIQATION FILED 110121. 1904.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1v No. 836,925. 7 PATENTED NOV. 27, 1906.

J. W. FREE.

MALTING APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOVZZI. 1904. Y

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED NOV. 27, 1906.

I No. 836,925.

J. ,W. FREE. MALTING APPARATUS;

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

.2 44 z/en ia z', 4/; 491% APPLICATION I 'ILED H0121. 1904.

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PATENTED' NOV. 27, 1906. J. W. FREE.

MALTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILLED HOV S1. 1904.

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'PATENTED NOV. 27, 1906.

J. W. FREE. MALTING APPARATUS.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV 21. 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

JOHN W. FREE, OF' NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO INTERNATIONAL MALT MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,A CORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA, AND STANDARD FINANCE COMPANY, ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MALTING APPARATUS.

Patented Nov. 27, 1906.

Application filed November 21, 1904:. Serial No. 233,750.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. FREE, a citizen of the United States,residing at No. 1 135 Broadway, New York, county of New York, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMalting Apparatus, fully described and represented in the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to facilitate the preparation of thegrain for malting, the distribution of the grain from floor to floor ina building having several stories so that it may be I'IlCCGSSlVGlYtreated upon the said stories, the regulation of the temperature in themalting-rooms, the agitation of the malt upon the malting-fioors, themoistening 'of the same when required, and the direct mixing of cold andhot air with the malt to effect its growth, and the continuous agitationof the malt upon the drying-floor when transferred thereto from themalting-floors.

The invention includes particularly a stirring device adapted to runautomatically back and forth throughout the length of the malting-floor,the stirrer having reversible blades to agitate the -malt equally whenmoved in either direction upon the floor.

It also includes a particular construction 1 of the stirring devices anda series of adjacent malting-floors, so that the same stirring devicecan be transferred bodily from ,one floor to another, and thus operatein succession upon a series of floors.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings,in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of 'a building showing thevarious appliances provided for malting the grain. Fig. 2 is a diagramof one of the malting-floors and the stirring device with connection toa stand-pipe for supplying hot or cold fluids to the malt. Fig. 3 is anend view of the stirring-drum, the head being cut away from the lowerpart of the view to show the interior parts. Fig. 4 is a side elevationof one end of the stirring-drum in section at the center line wherehatched. Fig. 5 is a plan view of one of the reversible buckets. Fig. 6is an end view of the drumaxle and the friction-clamp for reversing thebucket. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the stirring device and thetraveling crane for the same with the hoisting-gear. Fig. 8 is an endelevation of the same with the cord-driving attachments and thestand-pipe and its connections. Fig. 9 is a plan of the stirringdrum andits carriage-fixtures, and 10 is a diagram showing two adjacentmaltingfloors with the means for shifting the stirring.- drum and itscarriage from one floor to another.

In Fig. l a malt-house of seven stories and basement is shown, withapparatus for cleaning and grading the grain in the top story. A, binsfor storing grain in the next story A, a heating apparatus in thebasement A, the first story A arranged for drying the grain, and theintermediate stories A to A ,inc1usive, provided with malting-floors andapparatus for stirring the grain while malting. Each of theseintermediate stories is provided with several adjacent maltin g-floorsb, separated by partitions b, with doorways b through the same.

Figs. 7, 8, and 10 show track-rails 0 upon the ceiling over themalting-floors extended through the doorways b and provided with atraveling crane (1, having four hoistingwheels to raise four hooks dsimultaneously and gearing operated by a grooved wheel d with endlesscord depending therefrom.

The axles of the hoisting-wheels are con nected. by chain-wheels d and achain d, which is represented merely byparallel lines in Fig. 7.. Thehoister serves to transfer the stirring apparatus from one malting-floorto another, as may be required, so that the malt in each floor may bestirred at intervals without providing a separate stirring-drum andpropelling devices for each floor.

To prepare the grain for malting, an elevator E is provided to raise thegrain to the top story A, where it is discharged upon sieves B and B,adapted to grade the grain by separating the coarsefrom the finekernels, the coarse kernels falling on a chuteC, which delivers theminto the bin D in the story A, while the other sieve delivers the finergrain upon a chute C, which discharges the grain into a separate bin D.The belt of the elevator E is driven from the. bottom and furnishesmeans of conveying power to the 60 when the latter possesses sufficientstability crank b and for driving a fan 6 to blow away the dirt which isseparated from the grain in the sifting operation. This is effected byincl-osing the sieves in a casing C to which the pipe of the blower b isextended, and leading a discharge-pipe b from the casing to the outerside of the building. The grain is thus sifted and cleaned before it isdischarged to the bins. Passages F are extended through themalting-floors into the stories below and would be provided with anysuitable gates for discharging the grain to the floors upon such lowerstories.

With a series of stories, as shown in Fig. '1, the malt may be partlytreated upon the I floor in each story and then discharged to the storybelow, being finally discharged into the lower story A, which isprovided with a drying floor G for drying the malt.

An air-heater H is shown in the basement with a duct I to supply the airthereto and a discharge-pipe I,'having nozzles J, opening into thebasement to heat the drying-floor.

The drying-floor is provided with a traversing stirring-drum g, whichagitates the grain upon the perforated door and thoroughly separates allthe sprouts therefrom, and the floor may be perforated to discharge thesprouts into the basement below, where they would be collected and usedfor fodder, fertilizers, &c-.

A chute F discharges the dried grain G from the drying-floor.

. The hot air pipe I is shown extended upwardly to the story A andbranch pipes, I are extended into each of the stories A to A",inclusive, and provided with a damper Z which regulates the introductionof hot air into the story to warm the malting-floor, as i may berequired. I

When the malting=floor requires cooling, it is eifecte'd by air cooledin an earth well K, having an outlet-pipe K, extended nearly to thebottom and connected with a suctionfan L, from which branches Lare'extend-ed to the several stories containing malting floors. Thesebranch pipes are provided with dampers Z, by which the supply of coldair may be regulated. The earth well is shown provided with a beam Kacross the top to sustain the blower L and with an inner jacket L,extended downward in the well near its outer wall and connected closelyat the top to the pipe K. The air entering the well is thus compelled topass close to the wall of the well, as shown by the arrows Z and theheat is thus abstracted from the thin layer of air, which is thusmaterially cooled before it is withdrawn by the exhaustbloWer. The wallof the well may be of earth or. of thin stone or metal in contactwiththe earthto conduct the heat effectively from theair.q.=-; 2- Eachmalting floor, 'as shown'in' Figs: 1, 2,

7, 8, and 10, is provided with guard-beams 6, having a portion of theupper surface covered by smooth rails e and the remaining portioncovered by a tooth-rack a A carriage is formed with end frames f, havingcar-wheels f to run upon the rails e, and the frames are tied togetherby cross-bars f? and provided with four eyes f in which the hooks d ofthe crane may be inserted to lift the carriage. (See Figs. 7, 8, 9.) Thecarriage sustains the stirring-drum g, having hollow shaft h fitted t'obearings 7t upon the frames f. A bearing it upon theframe carries ashaft i, with driving-sheave j upon one end and pinion 76 upon the otherend, which meshes with a gear 76 upon the stirring-drum shaft. Thehollow "shaft also has a gear; Z, and a stud is mounted upon an adjacentboss on the frame fand carries a gear Z in mesh with the gear Z and apinion n in mesh with the rack '6 The frame also has bearings a,carrying a tubular shaft upon which is mounted a reel p, car rying ahose One end of the hose is con heated with tile tubular shaft 9 andtheother end with a stand 'pipe 1. (Shown in Figs. 2 and 8.) The end of thereel-shaft p is connected with the end of the stirrer-shaft 7L by thepipe 19 and swivel-couplings 9 The stirrin'g drum and all of the partsdescribed are movable with the carriage, and the wheel 9' is driven byan endless cord 8, (see Figs-. 1 and 8,) which propels the carriagealong in the direction of the arrow 6 in Figs. 8 and 9 upon the rack cby the rotation of the gear at and simultaneously revolves the drum g inthe direction indicated by the arrow 6 in Figs. 8 and 9.

The hose-reel is provided with a gear t, (see Fig. 9,) and the frame fcarries a stud with an intermediate gear 15, which meshes with the racke and with the gear 25, so that the forward motion of the carriagecauses the rotation of the reel in the direction of the arrow 21 in Fig.8, thus winding up the hose as the carriage moves toward the stand-piper and unwinding it when moved in the reverse direction. Eachmelting-floor is provided with such a stand-pipe and the pipe furnishedwith a number of nozzles 1", which in practice would be connected withsuitable pipes to supply hot and cold air and hot and cold water atpleasure to the hose. Such hot or cold fluid is distributed into themalt from the hollow shaft of the stirring-drum, as hereinafterdescribed.

The cord 8 is automatically reversed by means hereinafter described totraverse the carriage and stirring-drum back and forth over the lengthof the melting-floor. The melting-floor would in practice be made aboutone hundred feet long; but the guard= beams e are shown broken in Figs.8 and 9, and thus only'a little longer than the car'- riage, for want ofroom upon the drawings.

' The s ace between the beams near their opposite ends is closed byshields u, which ICC hold the grain up to the stirring-drum as itreaches the ends of its travel, so that all of the grain may be agitatedat each traverse of the carriage.

The driving-cord s is propelled by grooved pulley s, which runs overidlers s and under tightening-wheels The shaft of the ulley s isprovided, as shown in Figs. 1 an 10, with pulleys c i), to whichstraight and crossed belts v and v are applied in the usual manner (seeFig. 1) and shifted alternately into operation at the opposite end ofthe carriage movement by a shifter w, bell-crank w, and rod extendedadjacent to one of the guard-beams 6. (See Figs. 7 and 10.) A dog uponthe carriage contacts with adj ust able collars 00 upon the rod to whenthe carriage reaches the opposite ends of the floor, thus reversing thedriving-cord s and traversing the carriage back and forth until stoppedby the attendant.

Any ordinary means of driving the straight and crossed belts may beused, an illustration being shown in the story A of the building in Fig1, where a counter-shaft x is shown to carry the pulleys which drive thestraight and crossed belts and driven in turn by a lineshaft orpower-shaft 20 The same or equivalent means would be furnished for eachof the malting-fioors, but are not shown in all of the stories onaccount of the smallness of the I scale in Fig. 1.

In practice a number of the malting-fioors b are constructed side byside upon each story, two of such floors being shown in Fig. 10, and thedoorway b in the intermediate partition, as well as the track-rails c,are arranged in line with the stirring-drum carriage when the latter isat one end of its travel. This facilitates the transfer of the stirringdevice from one malting-floor to another, which is effected by raisingone or both of the tighteningwheels s to loosen the driving-cord s whenthe motion of the same is stopped and unwrapping the driving-cord fromthe driving-wheel j, which frees the carriage completely from thedriving-cord.

The hose q is also disconnected from the stand-pipe 1' by its couplingg, and the hooks d of the hoister are then engaged with the eyes f 3upon the carriage-frame and the carriage lifted sufficiently for thestirring-drum to clear the top of the guard-beams e. The carriage canthen be readily shifted by the traveling crane over the guard-rails eupon the adjacent malt-ingfloor and set thereon and connected with thedrivingcord s on such floor. The hose 9 is then connected to thestand-pipe 1" upon the ceiling of such adjacent floor, and the stirringdevice is then ready to operate upon such floor, as already described.

In Figs. 1 and 10 the doorways between the adjacent floors are shownarranged alternately at opposite ends of the floors, as it is preferableto run the stirring-drum only three times over the malt, which causesthe carriage to stop at the opposite end of the floor from which it wasstarted.

As the malt on each floor only requires stirring at intervals, thestirrer, with its carriage, can after the malt upon one floor has beenstirred be transferred to another, and so to all of those upon the samestory and returned to the first-named floor to repeat the stirringthereon. In order that the buckets of the stirring-drum may lift themalt when turned in opposite directions, they are in the resentinvention made each with two curved lades or flaps 3, formed of a singlepiece of sheet metal and provided at the middle of the width withjournals 4 and with mechanism for tripping the blades upon the ournalswhen the motion of the drum is reversed. The construction is shown inFigs. 3 and 4, where the hollow shaft h isrepresented with circularflanges h secured thereon, with the end ones attached to heads 1 and theintermediate ones attached to radial arms 2. These arms carry asheet-metal shell at a suitable distance from the periphery of the drumto form bucket-spaces for receiving the malt. The shell is formed withribs 5 adjacent to the journals of the buckets and with intermediateridges 6, u on which the flaps of the buckets close. n the lower part ofFig. 3 the right-hand flaps are shown pressed against the ridges toadapt the left-hand flaps for lifting the grain when the drum turns, asindicated by the arrow 2; but in the upper part of Fig. 3, which is notin section, the opposite flaps are in contact with the ridges, and thebuckets are arranged to lift the grain when the drum rotates in theopposite direction. Pipes 7 are shown extended from the interior of thehollow shaft 0ut wardly to perforations in the ridges 6, so as todischarge fluid at both sides of the ridges into the bucket-spacescontaining the grain, whichever way the drum is rotated, and hot andcold fluid supplied through the hose 9 is thus thrown directly into thegrain as it is stirred by the drum. To reverse the buckets automaticallywhen the drum is traversed and rotated in opposite directions, a disk 8,with sleeve 9, is fitted loosely upon the stirrershaft h and is embracedby a friction-clamp 10, having wheels 11 to run' upon the rail (2. Thedisk 8 is provided with a series of crankpins which are connected bylinks 12 to cranks 13, one upon the journal of each of the double-flapbuckets. When the rotary motion of the drum is reversed, the disk 8 isheld from reversing with a certain resistance due to the friction of theclamp 10, and this causes the drum to turn in relation to the disk, sothat the links 12 reverse the motion of the buckets. The movement of thebuckets into the grain serves thereafter to hold them in theirnewlyadjusted position, facing toward the grain as the drum advances,the hub 9 of the disk continuing to rotatein the clamp in spite of thefrictional resistance. This resistance is sustained by the Wheels 11running upon the track 6 and is in practice very slight, as only atrifling forceis required to reverse the buckets. This malting apparatusis largely automatic in its operation and furnishes means for cleaningthe grain, for moving it from one story to another in the building, fordrying it upon the lower story after it has completely germinated, forheating or cooling the air over the malting-floors, for supplying hot orcold fluids directly to the grain through the agency of thestirring-drum, and for operating the same stirring-drum upon differentfloors in the same story by elevating andtrans- I porting its carriagebodily from floor to floor.

The traveling crane or hoister may be called a .transfer apparatus, bywhich the stirring-drum is rendered available for use upon severalfloors.

To draw the fetid air from difierent stories, ablower is shown in Fig.1upon the rear side of'the building connected by a pipe y with anoutlet-flue 'y in each of the stories.

The outlets may be furnished with dampers in the usual manner toregulate the outflow ofthe air,'and"the inflow of cool or hot air maythus be regulated in a measure by the discharge of foul air. .Suchprovision for removing the fetid air is of great importance in producingthe most. rapid and beneficial germination of the grain, as the fetidair contains germs of: decay, which are very injurious to the grain. Bysecuring ure fresh heated airtoz the perforations of t e dryingfloorGrthe malt is dried more rapidly and thoroughly; than when the grain ismerely laid in contact with heated surfaces, as fresh air is constantlyintroduced to the grain for absorbing the:moisture and passes throughthe grainAinair-currents, which come in contact with e'very'particle ofthe grain asit is agitated bythe stirrer g. The entire apparatus is thusadapted to malt the grain in the most rapid and perfect manner. I

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what is claimedhereinis- 1. The combination, with a series of malting-floors side by sideupon the same level, of the guard-beams e extended at opposite sides ofeach floor, a carriage having the car-wheels 5 5 f to run upon the saidguard-beams and 'pro vided with "'a"stirringdrum, and detachable means,as thecord s, for rotating the-drum and propelling the carriage, thecarriage resting movab'ly upon the upper sides'of the guardbeams"'andbeing fitted interchangeably to theguardbeams at the sides of theseveral malting-i'loors, and means for raising the carriage for thestirring-drum to clear the guard-beams, and transporting the carriageand stirring-drum laterally from one floor to 2. The combination, with aseries of malting-fioors side by side upon the samelevel, of theguard-beams e at opposite sides of each floor, a carriage having thecar-Wheels f to run upon the said guard-beams and provided with astirring-drum, and detachable means, as the cord 8, for rotating thedrum and propelling the carriage, the carriage resting removably uponthe upper sides of the guardbeams and being .fitted interchangeably tothe guard-beams at the sides of the several malting-floors, aceiling-track transverse to the several floors and transfer apparatusupon the ceiling-track for lifting the carriage for the stirring-drum toclear the guardbeams and transporting the carriage and stirring-drumlaterally from one floorto another and depositing the same upon theguard-beams thereon.

3. The combination, with a series of malting-floors side by side uponthe same level, of guardbeams with track-rails at opposite edges of eachfloor, a carriage with Wheels fitted to said rails and a stirring-drumupon the carriage, a ceiling-track transverse to the several floors, andtransfer apparatus upon the ceiling-track for lifting the carriage anddrum and transferring it fromone floor to another.

4'. In a malting apparatus,.the combination, *Witha carriage supportedto travel over the malting-floor, of astirring-drum sustained thereonand having heads at opposite ends with reversible buckets journaled u onthe heads, means for propelling the carriage in reverse directions overthe floor, and

means actuated by the carriage-propelling mechanism for reversing thebuckets.

5. In a malting apparatus, the combination, with a carriage supported totravel over the 'malting-floor, of a stirring-drum sustained thereon andhaving heads at opposite ends with reversible buckets journaled'upon theheads, means for propelling the carriage in reverse directions over thefloor in the same plane, means provided with a frictionsleeve forreversing the buckets, and a stationary clamp held adjustably upon thesleeve for reversing the same when the carriage is reversed.

6. In a malting-drum, the combination, with a central shaft and headshaving bearings for reversible buckets, a casing fitted between theheads with ribs adjacent to the journals and ridges intermediate to theribs, and double-flap buckets fitted at the middle of their Width to thesaid ribs and having journals at the ends fitted to the said bearings,and the edges of the flaps adapted to fit buckets having journals fittedto the bearings and projected at one end outside of the head andprovided each with a reversingcrank, a sleeve fitted rotatably upon theshaft and provided With a flange, and links connecting said flange Withthe reversingcranks, and an adjustable clamp upon the sleeve for holdingthe same to reverse the buckets When the motion of the drum is reversed.

8. In a malting apparatus, the combination, with a malting-floor havingguardbearns e Withtrack-rails at opposite edges of the floor, of acarriage With bearings, a stir [5 ring-drum having shaft fitted to thebearings and provided with reversible buckets, a ropesheave upon thecarriage with gearing for rotating the drum and gearing for propellingthe carriage, means actuated by the carriage propelling mechanism andprovided With a friction-sleeve for reversing the buckets, and anendless rope traversed over the sheave to actuate the mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWosubscribing 2 5 Witnesses.

JOHN W. FREE. Witnesses:

L. LEE, THoMAs S. CRANE.

